The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1887-10-27
The State Rests.

article the farmer buys is reduced
in price one-half from the prices in free
trade times is utterly fallaeious. Some ar
hcles are cheaper | admit. They have
been made cheaper by newer and cheaper
processes of manufacture. Edward At
kinson tells US that the labor Of a man in
New England cotton manufactory will
now produce, with the new and improved
machinery, six or seven times as much
cloth in given time as it would have pro-
duced forty or Fifty years ago. In the same
way in thousand different branches of
manufacture. the power of labor has been
greatly enlarged in production. The con-
sequence, of couse, has been to reduce
prices of such products. Transportation,
also, both on land and sea, has become
much cheaper by the use of the steamship
and the steam car. For these things let
us be truly grateful. But every farmer
knows that in buying wagons and tools, and
furniture and clothing, and carpets, and
glassware and dishes, that the allegation
that prices have been reduced from fifty to
two hundred per cent. is utterly without
foundation.
The market reports published by the
/, Bureau of Statistics go back for sixty years,
and they bear conclusive evidence that
many kinds of manufactured goods not
withstanding all their transportation ma.
chinery and methods have been far higher
under protection than under free trade.
Pig iron, bar iron, salt, glass, nails,
leather, copper and gun powder have all
been higher under protection than under
free trade. Glass has been more than
twice as high and salt nearly twice as
high.
In his next speech Governor Foraker
had better take back his other statement,
that nearly everything the farmer buys is
from fifty to two hundred per cent. cheaper
than under free trade. But he can break
the humiliation of his admissions by say
ing that we have natural gas in Ohio now,
under protection, and we did not have
it in the old helpless and needy free trade
times.
l have spoken thus long about this ar.
ticle of Governor Foraker's, because il
contains in brief space the loose aad
tangled talk that is being ma3e use Of
everywhere in support Of our high tariff
for the sake of protection. l do not
wish to speak one uncivil or disrespectful
word of our Governor. I will apply nc
epithet of abuse to him fo- any consiaera-
tion in the world. | will opprobriously
lken him with no animal, reputable OF
dlsreputable, clean or uncleap, whipped OF
Office of Governor. He has, presumably,
given US In his article in the Forum the
keenest logic and the highest wisdom Of
which he is capable. Though l have
never read or heard of so much fallacious
statement, so much false inference, 80
much absurdity, ignorance and
folly packed into the sar, limited
number of words as the aragrapb
l have quoted, l hope our excellent
Governor will not be discouraged, but
write another article for the Forum. still
further elucidating his amazing knowledge
of history and sound political economy.
Such wisdom and remembrance must not
be allowed to perish.
UNNECESSARY TAX.
By such ridiculous assumptions Of facts
as these. and such inferences, it is hoped
that the people of this country can be in
duced TO continue to bear with the tariff
tax. That tax takes $100,000,000 of
money unnecessarily every year out of
their pockets, and puts into the treasury.
1t not only does that, but it acts in such
way that it takes many hundreds of mil.
lions out of the pockets of the consumers
aud puts it into the pockets of protected
capitalists. A tax on any foreign manu-
facture which is extensively imported into
this country, increases the price of simi-
lar article made in this country in sum
equal, or almost equal, to the duty paid
on the foreign article. This is the object
of every duty for protection. If it did not
have that effect, no one would won't high
duties. During the fiscal year ending on
the 30th day of Juae last there were Gus
toms duties paid into the treasury to the
amount of $2I7, 7,2S6, ,S93.I3. These duties
were paid by Cur merchants on goods
of kinds and descriptions VIII ch are
not only imported, but which are
largely manufactured here. This great
sum of money was paid by as shrewd men
as there are IL the world for the privilege
OF selling the goods in this country in
competition with similar goods of home
manufacturers To say that home man
ufactures siuilar to those imported
are not raised in price by the additional
cost of the imported gods caused by the
tariff is to charge cur merchants with be-
ing fools. If like goods to those imported
which are made in this country can be
purchased as cheap here as they can be
bought abroad, no merchant would be
willing to buy goods abroad to sell in